Yesterday was a good day. I like Mondays, typically. I like to start the week off on a good foot. I think having a good Monday sets a precedent for a strong week, so I usually go out of my way to make Monday’s extra productive. Yesterday’s Monday certainly was.

I wanted to share one thing with all of you reading my blog. I am not perfect. Sometimes I make mistakes. We all do right? It just so happens that, I made one yesterday. I did apologize, but this client was still unhappy. It happens from time to time in everyone’s business. Here’s what happened.

I had a client look at one of my exclusive rentals at 53 Irving Place. The apartment is currently drastically reduced from what the previous Tenant was paying. I believe it is now listed for what the current market can bare, and now it will soon be rented for around its asking price. Well, on Friday a client came to see the apartment at my office while I wasn’t in the office. She loved it. (Meanwhile this same client had an appointment to see this same apartment with us on Tuesday but stood us up without calling) I kindly reached out to her to reschedule without making big deal out of it and she did- for Friday. So the story goes, she didn’t call me on Friday either, she emailed me and asked me if I would meet with her personally about possibly renting the apartment. Honestly, that’s fine with me, I am all about the personal touch, but at the same time it’s kind of unnecessary especially on a Friday right before the weekend when someone else can rent the apartment. She could at least start the process and we could meet afterward. I told her that I wasn’t available to meet until Monday in person but I could talk on the phone before then, even now. She insisted on in person. At this point, I am thinking it is a little strange, and my instincts are saying this probably isn’t going to turn into a deal. This is because someone who needs to rent an apartment or wants to will get on the phone with me rather than to loose the apartment over the weekend. So well, maybe at this point the appointment went down in my brain to the Bermuda triangle, because come Monday morning, I completely forgot. (This is the I am not perfect part) She came into my office with someone to view the apartment for a second time. My representative did show it to them so that was fine. But I was on my way to the hairdresser, not to the office. I had a fundraiser to attend that afternoon and I hadn’t done my own hair before leaving the house and there was pretty much no other way to do my hair at this point. So call me crazy, I asked her to meet me at the hairdresser. It’s only 1.5 blocks from my office! Well, this didn’t go over very well, and she left. So what’s the verdict? I’m not sure. I wasn’t willing to walk around all day and go to an important fundraiser with bad hair. My representative tells me her friend didn’t like the apartment much. So maybe it was just that and not so much my request. But regardless the whole experience led me to want to write and just put it out there now, “I am not perfect!” I try my best to run my business in the most ethical, honorable manner possible. I do not false advertise unlike many other Real Estate agencies. I try to treat people as I would like to be treated (I myself would have gotten a kick out of meeting someone at their hairdresser, but perhaps I have a unique understanding of a hectic lifestyle that this client didn’t) When a client is unhappy due to one reason or another, I always want to know why. I always want to reach out and talk about it. I always want to try to leave things on good terms if possible. Usually I do, one way or another. I send gifts, gift certificates, etc) I got out of my way. That’s my policy. In a small business especially, knowing you’re not going to always be perfect and that you’re staff is going to screw up sometimes too, is important to know, and it’s good to know just how you will react when it does happen.

I felt bad about this but had to put it behind me quickly and get on with my Monday. The fundraiser was a good success. I saw some contacts I hadn’t seen in awhile. I got a lead on two new possible exclusive buildings in Washington Heights, a possible exclusive listing for sale in Murray Hill, and a serious buyer for a three bedroom in Brooklyn. This was in and hour and a half. After that, I met with a possible recruit that contacted me. He is a top producer at another Real Estate office and is very attracted to the “Adina” thing. We had a great meeting and really clicked. I finally ate my lunch, a salad from Chop’t at 3PM. Then I got that Brooklyn exclusive signed, the one in Cobble Hill from the other day. We had been going back and forth and finally came to an agreement on the language of the exclusive. I followed up on some referrals I was given for 5 new buildings from a developer and one new rental building in the Meat Packing District.. We will see. I helped my agents out with some things and did some rental updates and advertising updates, returned my phone calls, made yet another “To Do” list. Time flew by as it always does and I had to run out to meet a new owner to pitch for a possible new exclusive on West 47th Street. That meeting went great. The Owner and I really hit it off. He used to live in this Brownstone with his wife. Now they are living in New Jersey and splitting up their previous Owners duplex into two apartments for rent. There will be two apartments, a two-bedroom garden apartment with a private entrance and a spectacular 3-bedroom duplex with outdoor space, very high-end renovation and a hot tub! Very nice. I tried not to show on my face that I was imagining myself in this hot tub.. ha! I was really liking that idea of a hot tub in the middle of Manhattan. Nice. Anyways, great guy, I think we will do business together. I have to send him some comps. I am going to do that now.